Deutsche Bank COO to leave amid continuing management reshuffle

Frankfurt (Reuters): Deutsche Bank’s chief operating officer Kim Hammonds is stepping down, the German lender said on Wednesday, amid a continuing reshuffle of its executive suite.

Hammonds had been tasked with streamlining the bank’s IT systems, but she came under pressure after disparaging comments she made about the bank became public.

Deutsche Bank said that she was leaving by “mutual agreement” and that a successor would be named after consultations with regulators.

Hammonds is the latest to go in a major shakeup of the bank’s top managers. Chief Executive Officer John Cryan was ousted last week, replaced by his deputy Christian Sewing, and a top investment banker, Marcus Schenck, also left the bank. Hammonds told colleagues earlier this year that Deutsche was “the most dysfunctional company” she had ever worked for, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hammonds said: “I know Deutsche Bank is well on track to regain its position as a leading financial institution.”

Also departing are John Andrews, head of investor relations. He will be replaced internally with James Rivet, according to a memo sent to staff and seen by Reuters.

“John feels that this is the right time to take this step with the leadership changes recently announced,” finance chief James von Moltke wrote to staff in the memo.